Well here we are again... It's been a while since I posted anything on here, but I wanted to share some exciting news with y'all. My new book, Devil's Jawbone, is out in just over a week and this is the cover I designed for it. What does everyone think?

I don't have pre-order links as yet, but they will be coming soon and I will keep you all up-to-date with news on this project. In the meantime, here is the blurb for my Halloween offering of 11 short scary stories :)

BLURB:

As night descends on the town of Devil's Jawbone, no one is safe. The veil between the living and the dead is at its thinnest, and the darkest side of human nature is boiling to the surface. The supernatural and the natural are colliding, and in this sleepy town, the bump in the night is taking human form. Innocence will be lost; the villain will become the victor; spirits will rise and Satan himself will come to town.

In an eerie collection of short speculative fiction, author BJ Sheppard will grab your imagination, bringing new life to the classic campfire tales synonymous with the scariest of occasions. Halloween will never be the same again.

I hope everyone is looking forward to this as much as i am. It will be available in paperback soon as well :)

Well, it's that time of year again, and what better way to celebrate than with a free Christmas read.It's been one hell of a year for me, lots of releases flying out via my own self-publishing and Wilde City Press, and to say thank you to everyone supporting me, I wanted to do something special.For all the readers, bloggers and reviewers, this one is for you; for all your countless hours of reading and pivotal critiques that teach writers like me how to grow in our craft. This is a thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the work you do, all the valuable time you spend and for all the dedication you exhibit. Without you, i would be nothing.So here it is: The Perfect Stranger...

BLURB:On a snowy Christmas Eve, Cal finds himself stranded in a local bar, nothing but the chatty barman and the merriment of others to keep him company. As the door to the bar opens, blown in by a gust of winter breeze, Cal finds himself locked onto the handsome man who enters. With the Christmas cheer surrounding them, Cal lets his walls down enough to give into the lure of the perfect stranger.

Well it rocked around finally! My release, my first proper publication with the fab Wilde City Press went live today - 'Always Have, Always Will' can now be yours. So i wanted to do a quick intro for the book and hope that it get's everyone interested and invested. So here goes.

BLURB:

Imagine losing everything you ever loved in the blink of an eye. For Clayton Palmer, that terrible fate has just become a reality as he buries his lover, Gregg, after a brief and futile battle with cancer. Now, in the house in which they shared their love for all those years, Clay’s own life is slowly fading. In a war with his ailing body, Clay reminisces over the life they shared. Knowing time is running out, memories of their joy and sadness come to him; vignettes forming a road map back to the man he always loved; always has and always will.

EXCERPT:

He sighed deeply, moving further into the cold room, searching and daring something to be out of place. Clay’s eyes landed on a bottle of whisky that seemed to grin at him from beside the stove. It was a portent and wanted to be drunk, so he grabbed a crystal glass from a nearby cupboard and filled it up with the amber liquid, his clumsy movements sloshing the liquor over the side of the glass. He didn’t clean it up. He didn’t need to.Swallowing was harder than he thought it would be, so Clay assumed he was getting further along. Still the alcohol burned on its way down his closing throat, a wash of relaxation punctuating his thoughts as he looked around the kitchen for the final time. He said a prayer, though this time not to God. This time he prayed to Gregg, knowing in his heart that his lover was listening. He prayed for peace, but the words never formed. It was a prayer of will, and he projected it as he cleared the last of his drink.He slammed the glass against the marble surface of the counter, the loud crescendo at complete odds with the eerie silence that permeated the house. The stark sound only served to illustrate how cavernous the house had become, how alone he truly was. He turned to leave the room, knowing in his mind that peace, like his former life, didn’t live there anymore.

****

There was something I forgot to say.I’d spent the better part of seventy-two hours as a permanent fixture in a slightly more comfortable chair in the waiting room. Un-showered and unmoving, my diet had consisted only of vending machine snacks and tepid, miniature cups of Nescafe from the coin-operated machine in the nurses’ lounge, the bitter brew the only thing drawing a line between me and a restful night’s sleep. Sinking down into the chair, I tucked one foot underneath me, my tired knee groaning as I folded myself further into the toxic vinyl cushioning. Every muscle was aching, my age finally starting to betray me, each click of my hip or crack of my knee just another obtuse reminder that it was all disappearing. But my years were not what I was mourning.I pulled my arms around me, in part to stave off the bitter breeze of the air conditioning causing my skin to prick into gooseflesh every time it whispered through the metal grate at the top of the adjacent wall. When people say they are ‘holding it together’, the concept had previously been lost on me. I tensed the muscles in my arms, pulling my body in on itself. That was all that was keeping me together, like if I were to relax, my heart might fall out of my chest, and land on the shining tiles of the floor beneath me.

So yeah, that's what you have to look forward to. Oh, and one more thing...

GIVEAWAY!!!!!

Leave a comment in the comments section below for a chance to win a free copy of the novella. I'll be announcing the winner next wednesday, so you have one week to share and get your chance to pick up a free copy.

Extra special thanks go out to Lisa Horan, Tina Adamski and Sammy Goode, who were my cheerleaders when this was just an idea in my brain. To Geoff who gave me this chance, and Ethan who made my day with a new contract today (HAPPY RELEASE DAY TO ME!!!). To Val for putting up with my nagging and the abundance of the words "as" and "if" :P To Adrian for all your amazing design work and for creating this beauty that I can keep and read over and over and over. And to everyone reading, it means the world the to me that you are supporting me and I am eternally grateful to every single one of you.

Over a year ago, I sat down to write my first fully-finished, beta read short story. I've always wanted to make people cry with what I write, so this story personifies that. It is a story of loss and redemption and love that transcends life itself and it is sure to make you shed a tear or two.

So it's really pleasing to announce that as of Nov 26th, my first story, 'Always Have, Always Will' will be published through Wilde City Press. I am in awe of the authors who both started this publishing house and are signed there and it is a huge pleasure for me to join their roster. Soon, the book will go live, available in all the usual eBook formats, and I'll be getting ready to submit another story to my idols at Wilde City.

Here is the link - go, see, buy if you like the sound of it. All reviews are appreciated, whether positive or negative - it's the only way an author can grow.

A huge thank you to Geoff and Ethan for taking a chance on an unknown writer, to Val for the wonderful edits, to Adrian for the gorgeous cover, and for the ladies of the Novel Approach reviews, who were my first critics and beta readers. I love you all xxx